Please inform your school’s nurse if your child has special health concerns so district staff may plan a program accordingly. School administrative and health services staff are available to anyone who feels they would like to discuss a health concern that affects a student's well being.

Student Emergencies

If your student has an emergency, we need to contact you. Please be sure to complete and return the Emergency Contact and Health History form every fall for each student in your family. This emergency and health information is available to school staff, as necessary, to work with your student. Accurate and up-to-date information makes it possible for school personnel to provide proper emergency care according to your wishes. Should your telephone number or place of residence change during the school year, be sure to notify the office staff at your student's school.

In case of a medical emergency or illness, school personnel will attempt to notify you immediately. It is your responsibility to make arrangements for the proper care and transportation of your child if he/she should be met with an accident or become too ill to remain in school. These arrangements include designating friends or relatives who would be available to pick up and care for your child in the event we are unable to reach you. Including their names on the emergency form allows us to contact them and release your student to their care. If the emergency is of an urgent nature, school staff will call 911 and a copy of the emergency form will be given to the ambulance attendant.

Excuse from Physical Education

Please send a request to the teacher if your child needs to be excused from physical education. Written instructions are required from the student's physician if the student is to be excused for more than two days, and must include a re-entry date.

Medications

Diagnosis, treatment of illness, and/or prescribing drugs and medications are the responsibility of physicians, not school personnel. School personnel will dispense only medications that have been prescribed by a physician. When possible, medication doses should be given at home to avoid interruptions in the school day.

If medication is needed during the school day:

Parents/guardians must inform the building nurse. Students observed by school personnel self-administering unauthorized medications shall be reported to their parents/guardians.

A Medication Administration Consent form is required for the administration of all medications. The form must include the student's name, diagnosis, name of medication, dosage information, time to be given, and signatures of parent/guardian and physician.

Medication must be provided in pharmacy-labeled containers that indicate pharmacy name and telephone number, student's name, physician, and name and dosage of medication. Parents/guardians should ask the pharmacy to split medication into duplicate bottles if it is necessary to give medication during school hours. One bottle will be kept at home and the other at school under the care of school authorities.

The building nurse will administer prescribed medication. In the absence of the nurse, the medication will be dispensed by a designee named by the principal, in consultation with the building nurse. Students will be allowed to carry and self-administer medications only with a physician's and parent's written permission.

Tylenol or other over-the-counter medicines will be administered to elementary students only with a physician's written order, in addition to the parent authorization. Such over-the-counter medication must be in the original container.

Illness

Children should not be in school if they have a temperature of 100 degrees or above. Children who have a contagious illness or are experiencing vomiting, diarrhea or other symptoms of illness that may prohibit active participation in school routines should not be in school until appropriate treatment is secured. Students should be free of elevated temperature, vomiting, and diarrhea symptoms for 24 hours prior to their return to school.

If a student has contracted a contagious disease and a doctor has confirmed it, please inform the student's teacher. Parents of other students may then be cautioned to watch for signs of the disease and help prevent its spread throughout the classroom.

While at school, if a student develops a temperature of 100 or above and/or shows other symptoms of illness, parents will be contacted to pick him/her up. If the parent/guardian cannot be reached, information on the emergency card will be used.

Reporting Absences

Parents are asked to notify the school office when students are going to be absent. This should be done before 9:00 a.m. on the day of the absence. Call your school's voicemail, listed below, and follow the instructions on the recording. All telephone numbers have a 763 area code.

Early Childhood Special Education 391.8786

Basswood Elementary 494.3858

Birch Grove Elementary 561.1374

Cedar Island Elementary 425.5855

Crest View Elementary 561.5165

Edinbrook Elementary 493.4737

Elm Creek Elementary 315.7692

Fair Oaks Elementary 549.2352

Fernbrook Elementary 420.8888

Garden City Elementary 549.2363

Oak View Elementary 391.7246

Palmer Lake Elementary 549.2401

Park Brook Elementary 549.2408

Rice Lake Elementary 315.7372

Rush Creek Elementary 315.9774

Weaver Lake Elementary 420.3337

Woodland Elementary 315.6408

Zanewood Community 549.2436

Brooklyn Middle 569.7616

Maple Grove Middle 315.7603

North View Middle 585.7212

Osseo Middle 391.7280

Maple Grove Senior High 391.8901 (A-K); 391.8700 (L-Z)

Osseo Senior High 391.8512

Park Center Senior High 569.7611 or 569.7612

Osseo Area Learning Center 391.8890

Osseo Secondary Transition Center 315.7470

Immunizations – Are Your Kids Ready For School?

To go to school in Minnesota, students must show they've had the required immunizations, or must file a legal exemption* with the school.

* Parents may file a medical exemption signed by a health care provider or provide conscientious objection signed by parent/guardian and notarized.

Special Health Care Needs

ISD 279 works to make appropriate plans for those students with special health care needs. The primary responsibility for a student's health care rests with the parent/guardian. School health service is supportive health care that enables education of the student in a safe manner. A student with a "special health care need" is one with a chronic health problem that requires specialized health support beyond routine medication administration during the school day in order to attend school.

Students with special health care needs must be identified and appropriate initial plans developed before attendance at any district building. A team meeting that includes parents/guardians, student (if reasonable), building nurse, appropriate teacher, and others as directed by the principal shall be held for the purpose of establishing the needs and the plan of care (Individualized Healthcare Plan), and initiating the 504 or IEP process, if indicated.

If a parent's request for service does not match the team's expectation of required care or is considered not to be a school health service, an independent evaluation by a neutral physician may be required and paid for by the school district.

Provision of direct health care procedures (g-tube feedings, catheterization, etc.) beyond medication administration shall be authorized by physician order and parent/guardian signature. Orders must be renewed at least yearly or at the time of any changes in the procedure.

The building nurse will be responsible for the case management of all special health needs. The building nurse may delegate health care in accordance with the Minnesota Nurse Practice Act when necessary. A regular documented program of training and supervision of appropriate teachers and other involved school personnel will be required.

An Individualized Healthcare Plan (IHP) shall document the student's health concern/need, plan of care, and goals/desired outcomes. The IHP should also include an emergency plan if a student's condition may predictably result in an emergency situation. The IHP is the result of the initial team conference. It is written by the Registered Nurse and is filed in the student's health folder.

Information regarding a student's health needs shall be shared with those personnel who need to know in order to work with that student. This information shall be considered private in accordance with federal and state data practices law.

The provision of special health care will be done in a manner that will protect privacy, promote developmentally appropriate student independence and minimize interruption to the education of the individual student and other students in the classroom. The location of services will be determined on an individual basis with the previous factors, safety and classroom needs in mind.

Equipment requirements particular to the needs of a given student and beyond that routinely used for the general health needs of students will be supplied and maintained by the student/family. Students with tracheostomies must have an emergency kit with them at all times.

Requests for health service while off school grounds (during the school day for school-related activities) will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis in consultation with the district nurse. An invitation may be extended to the parents to attend and provide for their student's unique health needs. In the absence of parent help, a plan will be made to accommodate students with special health needs.